High school football: Medina's Drew Allar breaks Medina County record for career TD passes

MEDINA — Medina quarterback Drew Allar stands alone. The Penn State recruit and Mr. Football candidate broke the Medina County record for career touchdown passes Friday, throwing four in the first half as the Bees routed Wadsworth 35-0 in non-league action. The 6-foot-5, 230-pound Allar now has 57 TD passes in his career, breaking the mark of 55 set by Brunswick's Darian Miskewycz from 1993-95. "I never imagined anything like this," Allar said. "I couldn't have done it without great coaches and great teammates. Everybody has really helped me." With Wadsworth (1-2) electing to rush only two players and drop nine into coverage — "Shoot, you've got to try something," Grizzlies coach Justin Todd said — Allar completed 32-of-43 passes for 391 yards while rushing 10 times for 73 yards as Medina improved to 3-0. The senior pulled within one TD of matching Miskewycz's record with an 8-yard TD to Drew Hensley (5 catches, 47 yards) on the first possession of the game, then equaled the mark with a 15-yard bullet to Ben Butler (6 catches, 89 yards) on the Bees' initial possession of the second quarter. The record fell when Allar showed off the cannon he has for a right arm, drilling a 28-yard rocket to Jajuan Jackson (3 catches, 52 yards) with 5:39 to play in the first half. "That broke the record?" a shocked Jackson asked. "That's dope." The play, a go route that Jackson usually breaks off because the defensive back is giving him a large cushion, went straight down the left sideline, with Allar hitting the leaping 5-10, 180-pounder just across the goal line. "I told Juan to just keep going," Allar said. "Not many DBs can keep up with his great speed. The offensive line gave me time and Juan did a great job of going up and getting it." All in a day's work, according to the receiver. "The coaches told Allar to show off his arm," Jackson said. "Usually I stop, but Allar told me to keep going because he was going to throw it up. I make plays, that's all." Allar got his final TD on a 13-yard strike to Hensley that put the Bees up 28-0 with 1:06 to play in the first half. At that point, he was 21-for-25 for 284 yards passing and had 56 yards rushing on seven carries. "He's certainly the best I've ever coached against," Wadsworth's Todd said. "Everybody knows about his arm and his size, but he made some impressive moves in the pocket. There were a few times I thought we had him, but his pocket presence is what really impressed me. You can tell he has some natural moxie." The Bees got their final touchdown on a 3-yard run by Ryan Farrell with 9:32 left in the game, with Nick West adding his fifth extra point of the game. West, who had a 50-yard field goal attempt from the right hash fall about 5 yards short, also booted five of his six kickoffs into the end zone. Michael Rodak had nine catches for 97 yards for Medina, while Brennen Schramm caught six balls for 85 yards and Reid Kelps grabbed three for 21. The defense did the rest, with cornerback Keon Johnson delivering the biggest hit of the night when he leveled Anthony Cirino (9 catches, 61 yards) after a 5-yard completion. "The coaches put us in great position to make plays," the 5-11, 185-pound Johnson said. "I just took the opportunity and did my job. "We want to make a name for ourselves. We all know about the offense, but we want to make sure we all our doing our jobs so we all can succeed." The Grizzlies, who had a handful of regulars in quarantine, managed to slow down the Bees at times. Medina had just seven points in the second half, but let the clock run out with the ball on the Wadsworth 2-yard line. "We wanted to slow the game down a little and milk the clock," Todd said. "We figured they would move the ball slower if (Allar) was running the ball instead of passing it." Offensively, the Grizzlies once again split quarterback duties between juniors Josh Pasco (3-for-5 for 9 yards; 2 rushes for 27 yards) and Luke Fischer (15-for-20 for 133 yards; 4 rushes for minus-9), while 5-4, 150-pound sophomore running back Nathan Metzger had 17 carries for 37 yards and three catches for 12 yards. "Crazy as it sounds, I thought we did some positive things," Todd said. "There's something to build on from this game." Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @RickNoland on Twitter. Medina 35, Wadsworth 0 WADSWORTH 0 0 0 0 — 0 MEDINA 7 21 0 7 — 35 First M — Drew Hensley 8 pass from Drew Allar (Nick West kick), 9:25. Second M — Ben Butler 15 pass from Allar (West kick), 9:31. M — Jajuan Jackson 28 pass from Allar (West kick), 5:39. M — Hensley 13 pass from Allar (West kick), 1:06. Fourth M — Ryan Farrell 3 run (West kick), 9:32.